A child has a 2-week history of spiking fevers, which have been as high as 40°C (104°F)

A child has a 2-week history of spiking fevers, which have been as high as 40°C (104°F). She has spindle-shaped swelling of finger joints and complains of upper sternal pain. When she has fever, the parents note a faint salmon-colored rash that resolves with the resolution of the fever. She has had no conjunctivitis or mucositis, but her heart sounds are muffled and she has increased pulsus paradoxus. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?

a. Rheumatic fever

b. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

c. Toxic synovitis

d. Septic arthritis

e. Osteoarthritis

the answer is below…

The United States Medical Licensing Examination, or USMLE for short, is a three-part licensing examination that is required in order to receive a license to practice medicine within the United States.

The USMLE assesses a physician’s ability to apply knowledge, concepts, and principles, and to determine fundamental patient-centered skills that are important in health and disease and that constitute the basis of safe and effective patient care.Examination committees composed of medical educators and clinicians from across the United States and its territories prepare the examination materials each year.

This exam is designed by the Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Board of Medical Examiners to determine whether or not an individual understands and can apply the knowledge necessary to practice medicine safely and intelligently.

The USMLE is actually comprised of three different exams that are referred to as steps, which examine the individual’s knowledge of specific topics related to the field of medicine such as basic science, medical knowledge, medical skills, clinical science, and the application of all of these skills and areas of knowledge in the medical field.

All three steps of the USMLE include a series of computerized multiple-choice questions, but the format of the exam and the information covered in each multiple-choice section is different for each step of the USMLE. The USMLE Step II also has a clinical skills portion that examines an individual’s ability to work with real patients and the USMLE Step III has a computerized patient simulation portion in addition to the multiple-choice section of the exam. In order for an individual to receive a license to practice medicine, the individual must pass all three steps of the USMLE.

Medical doctors with an M.D. degree are required to pass this examination before being permitted to practice medicine in the United States of America

The correct answer is b; Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.[1]

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA, or Still’s disease) frequently causes spindle-shaped swelling of finger joints and can involve unusual joints such as the sternoclavicular joint. Presentation of JRA occurs as either polyarthritis (five or more joints, systemic symptoms not so severe or persistent), pauciarticular (four or fewer joints, lower-extremity joints, extra-articular disease unusual), or systemic disease (severe constitutional disease, systemic symptoms prior to arthritis, rheumatoid rash, high spiking fevers, variable joint involvement). This disorder can be associated with spiking high fevers and diffuse rash, which are not a feature of rheumatic fever, toxic synovitis, or osteoarthritis. Although septic arthritis can affect any joint, it would not be likely to affect finger joints by causing spindle-shaped swellings. Toxic synovitis usually involves larger joints, such as the hip, and osteoarthritis is not a disease of childhood.